WaterFacts… Did you know?

World population reached 7 billion in 2011.

One in eight people in the world have only dirty water to drink.

Water is good for us! We should drink around six glasses of water each day.

In Britain each of us uses around 160 litres of water every day.

The average person in the developing world uses 10 litres of water every day for their drinking, washing and cooking.

WaterAid’s life changing safe water, sanitation and hygiene projects cost as little as £15 per person. 

( www.wateraid.org/statistics ) 

Please if you think Clean & Safe Water should be accessible to everyone, help me run for Water by donating at:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/forabetterworld

By getting all involved we could make a huge difference in the lives of millions of persons!

"The Future has a way of arriving unannounced".George Will (1941- )

(unfortunately!)

Two weeks hast just flown away. Two weeks off track from my preparation for the marathon in which my guilty consciousness kept hearing words such as “Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success” (Henry Ford). So today I was finally ready to find out how easy it is for a body (mine at least!) to get used to a sedentary lifestyle. I ran 6 miles; it wasn’t as bad as the beginning but my last performance 18 miles in 3 .15 hours felt like a vague dream. In less than a month I have the marathon so those few weeks left promise to be intense. Today I managed to run 6 miles; tomorrow I will try to push it to 12 miles with the hope that by Sunday I will be back to an 18 miles performance.  

I can therefore say it loud and clear: I am back into my running shoes! 

They meant to say One must suffer to run a marathon and not to be beautiful!

          

My preparation for the Brighton marathon is proving to be a journey of self-discovery by testing my mental and physical resilience. Somehow or other I have managed to go to the gym around 4 times a week and running for an hour an average of 7 miles. It was very satisfying to realize that as the days go by, it was getting easier and easier to run longer distances. However, I was far from imagining that I will manage to run the targeted 16 miles with the Brighton marathon training group last Sunday. Let's not forget that I started preparing for the marathon just a month ago and the group has been training since September. This was a challenging run not only for the distance but also because of the weather. It was cold, rainy and windy but despite all those elements against me (and the rest of the group) I managed to run the 16 miles in the allocated time: 2 hours and 45 mintutes. I wish this post was about the great sense of accomplishment I felt when finishing the run but I need to mention an issue that most runners experience at some point : knee pain! I was shocked to realize that although I had no much difficulties during the run, few hours later moving my right knee did become a painful challenge. I followed the wise advise of a colleague to go and see an osteopath just to make sure that I will be fine running the marathon. The session was very helpful, the massage did reduce the pain and I received few advises on stretching exercises that are helping me so I will strongly advise to tackle any pain rather soon than later. The osteopath did also re-ensured me that the problem was minor and will not jeopardize my general health. I was also recommended the use of knee braces to provide additional support to my knees.

How was our world this week?

 Mafalda: democracy (from the greek δεμοσ; people, and κρατοσ; authority) Government in which the people exercises the sovereignty.

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak‘s refusal to step down from power on the pretext that he fears his departure will lead to chaos reminds me of Louis XIV ominous saying: “After me, the Deluge!”

Despite the unequivocal demand (“leave, leave, leave”) of the tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square for the past twelve days and growing international pressures calling for an immediate transition, president Mubarak appears determined to cling on to power.

As the absolute monarch, Louis XIV, his assertion seems to suggest himself as the holder of the keys for a peaceful and better Egypt. However after days of peaceful protests, rumours have emerged that the bloody confrontations between Mubarak's followers and detractors had been orchestrated by the president  himself with the use of “police in plain clothes to launch the attacks against the anti-regime protesters” (FT 04/02/11)  in a bid to showcase the disastrous consequences of violence his departure could lead to. Louis XIV ‘s departure was followed by the French Revolution which bequeathed French people with the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, principle that has inspired Liberal Democracies throughout the world.  Would it be delusional to hope that the deluge the president Mubarak refers to is a Democratic wave across the Arab World?

 (ft.com)

Are we witnessing an Islamic Revolution for Democracy?

Although reality and aspirations do not always add up, what is sure is that we are witnessing an historical period of change in the Middle East. Are we? The apparent falling apart of an old regime that followed the French Revolution, turned out to be just a transfer of power to a new ruling elite. The support that has preceded protests in Egypt from both the US and Iran clearly reflects that the dices were not thrown just yet. The 1979s Iranian revolution managed to overthrow the Shah’s oppressive and corrupt regime just to lead way to a theocratic regime. However, it is clear that whatever happens in Egypt will have dramatic consequences in the rest of the Arab World. Indeed, Tunisian and Egypt turmoils have  already started to shake Arab autocracies (Jordan, Yemen and Algeria ). I am hopeful however, that Egypt's political scenario will evolve towards a democratic regime considering the fact that protestors do not limit their petitions to the departure of President Mubarak but ask for more freedoms too. Furthermore the diversity of the protesters involved in the upheaval indicates that if successful the revolution could lead to a pluralist society.

I believe restricting the issue to an Islamic Revolution for Democracy is an error. Thus, it limits unnecessarily the wave to a specific region forgetting that countries, notably in Africa, that have experienced a similar fate to Egypt and Tunisia could be equally inspired by those recent events. Egypt is not the only country in Africa where we have seen a president in power for over thirty years.The Tunisians and Egyptians have shown that political changes can be led by the people. This demonstration of possible self-determination will hopefully awake apathetic citizen in developing countries!

democratic movements in the Arab World (france - info.com)

To BE or not to BE ... WaterAid, that is the Question! We are WaterAid. Are YOU WaterAid?

* To be WaterAid is to believe in a vision of the World where access to Clean & Safe Water are basic Human Rights!


* To be WaterAid is to take action towards a World where Water, Sanitation and Hygiene are accessible to all!


WaterAid is a non-governmental organisation which has helped to date over 13 million individuals of the world poorest communities get acess to clean and safe water.


Please, IF YOU ARE WaterAid help me run for Water by donating at :




http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/forabetterworld




By   getting all involved we could make a huge difference in the lives of millions of persons!

How was our World this week?

Mafalda:  Did hunger and poverty end in the World? Were nuclear weapons suppressed? Yes?
Dad:  Hum, I don't think so darling
Mafalda: So why on earth do we change year?!

Another challenge this year I set to myself was to keep abreast of what is happening in the world . I figured out by posting weakly comments on news that caught my attention and receiving your comments could be an interactive and very informative way to share and learn from each others.

Today, I would like to expose my concern about rising global food prices which have “surged to a nominal record high, surpassing the peaks of the 2007-08 food crisis - when bread riots rocked poor countries” (FT 11/01/11). Soaring food prices are affecting both worlds (developing and developed worlds) but its impact on the world poorest people is particularly worrying as household spending is predominantly food. Since a graph or an image says more than a thousand words, there I suggest you have a look at those graphs which spare me from using some few thousand words:

- Largest changes in prices of key commodities per continent (p.10)

http://www.fao.org/giews/english/gfpm/GFPM_01_2011.pdf

- International cereals prices : wheat,  maize, rice (p.1)

http://www.fao.org/giews/english/gfpm/GFPM_01_2011.pdf

- Map of countries in crisis requiring external assistance for food (p.2)

http://www.fao.org/giews/english/gfpm/GFPM_01_2011.pdf

It seems that governments are putting in place individual strategies to secure food supply such as Abu Dhabi or South Korea which latest, is to “set up state-led grain trading company in Chicago … to buy up to 30% of Korea's grain needs by 2020” (FT: 11/01/11). I will tend to think that a global strategy would be more appropriate than isolated measures to tackle an issue that affect us all.

To most stories we have losers and winners, do you see any winners to that one?

What strategies could me more efficient?   

What was your highlight of the week?

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Today was a great accomplishment to run the targeted 12 miles with the Brighton Marathon group! I was very happy I could see a clear progression in my performance in just a week which shows that with persistent work and effort I should be up for the challenge of the 26 miles this 10^th of April. The run took place on the beautiful seafront by Hove Lawns which was a complete and utter luxury. Running along with my uncle was another stimulus to keep going as we motivated each other. A funny anecdote he told me later is that when he was about to give up the run to walk an older woman who was also running in the group approached him and mentioned that it wasn't serious that she could outperform a strong man like him, and I think it was a clear wake-up call since he managed to keep running until the end of the run. He was very happy about his performance and impressed about mine, which comment is always nice to hear. I was advised by one of the runner ambassadors to aim at running in total 25 miles in a week counting the ones I do on Sundays with the group. Hopefully, I will manage to stick to my personal training program which target is to run 3 x 10 miles during the week.